The Judicial Confirmation Network: Making Sure The Judges Are All "Right"

May 19, 2009 12:18 pm ET

President Obama hasn't announced his pick for the Supreme Court, but the Judicial Confirmation Network has already launched negative ads against several possible candidates. Who is really behind the attacks?

On May 18, 2009, the
Judicial Confirmation Network (JCN) launched "Obama's
Frontrunners," a new website seemingly aimed at raising money to fight the
president's eventual Supreme Court nominee.
The site features short ads that "expose the records" of potential picks
Elena Kagan, Diane Wood, and Sonia Sotomayor. JCN is clearly gearing up for a
fight. So who are they?

The Judicial Confirmation Network Supports
The Confirmation Of "Highly Qualified" Judges. According to the organization's website: "The
Judicial Confirmation Network is an organization of citizens joined together to
support the confirmation of highly qualified individuals to the Supreme Court
of the United States.
In addition, JCN works to ensure that the confirmation process for all judicial
nominees is fair and that every nominee sent to the full Senate receives an up
or down vote." [JudicialNetwork.com, accessed 5/18/09]

The Judicial Confirmation Network
Believes That "A Judge...Should Not Use The Power Of The Court To Impose His Or
Her Political Agenda. According to
the organization's website: "We believe that the proper role of a judge or
justice is to interpret the law and the Constitution - not make up the law and
deprive the people of the right to govern ourselves. We believe that a judge or
a justice should not use the power of the court to impose his or her personal
or political agenda on the people." [JudicialNetwork.com, accessed 5/18/09]

However,
the Judicial Confirmation Network clearly has a political agenda, and nothing
about the organization's history or leadership suggests they are interested in
being "fair." In reality, JCN is just another right-wing front group.

JCN
Started Out As A Republican PR Project To Help Confirm Bush's Supreme Court
Nominees

The Judicial Confirmation Network Was
Created By A Republican Public Relations Guru "To Shepherd Bush's Supreme Court
Justices To Confirmation." As reported by The New Republic, the Judicial Confirmation Network "publicly consists of two employees, a post box, and a
website. Originally created in
November 2004 by Becki Donatelli, a Republican PR doyenne who chairs
Campaign Solutions (the firm used by Bush-Cheney '04, McCain 2008, the RNC, the
NRCC, and even the 527 Vets
For Freedom), the JCN's original purpose was to shepherd Bush's Supreme Court
justices to confirmation." [The New
Republic, 2/10/08]

The Judicial Confirmation Network
Distributed Information Through Other Far-Right Organizations.
As reported by the Associated
Press: "The newly formed Judicial Confirmation Network distributes
information through other conservative groups, including Focus on the Family,
Americans for Tax Reform, Family Research Council and the Americans for Limited
Government...The network, coordinated by Gary Marx, a Bush-Cheney campaign
official, and Wendy Long, has also has hired a public relations firm that
advised Swift Boat Veterans for Truth, an organization that accused Kerry of
inflating his Vietnam War record during last year's presidential campaign." [Associated Press via
JudicialNetwork.com, 6/9/05]

JCN
Director Gary Marx Is An Operative For The Religious Right

The Judicial Confirmation Network's
Executive Director Is Gary Marx. According to the organization's website:
"The executive director of the Judicial Confirmation Network (JCN) is Gary
Marx. Gary came
to the JCN following a stint as a coalitions organizer for the Bush-Cheney 04
national campaign. Before joining the Bush-Cheney team, Gary served as Development Director and
lobbyist for The Family Foundation of Virginia. Gary is also president of Principium
Consulting a public policy and public affairs consulting firm."
[JudicialNetwork.com, accessed 5/18/09]

Gary Marx Is "Steeped In The Christian
Conservative Movement." As
reported by National Journal, Gary
Marx "is steeped in the Christian conservative movement,
having gotten his start in 1999 as executive director of
the Virginia Christian Coalition. He has also worked for former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed at Century Strategies, and at the Virginia affiliate
of Focus on the Family. He ran outreach to social
conservatives for Bush's 2000 and 2004 campaigns." [National Journal, 7/9/05]

Gary Marx Joined Mitt Romney's
Presidential Campaign As Part Of The "National Faith And Values Steering
Committee." The Chicago Tribune reported that Mitt
Romney's presidential campaign announced "a new religious team... the national
Faith and Values Steering Committee," which included Gary Marx. [Chicago Tribune, 6/13/07]

Gary Marx Is Also The Vice President Of
Century Strategies, LLC. According to Century Strategies' website:
"As the President of Principium Consulting, Inc., and Vice President with
Century Strategies, LLC, Gary Marx has a variety of political and
organizational experiences which help him serve his clients. He currently works
on numerous corporate, non-profit, and campaign projects. His most high profile
work has come as the Executive Director for the Judicial Confirmation Network
during the successful confirmation battles of Chief Justice John Roberts and
Justice Samuel Alito. Past clients include Let Freedom Ring, Christian Blind
Mission International, and the California Republican Party." [CentStrat.com,
accessed 5/18/09]

Century Strategies Was Founded By
Republican Strategist Ralph E. Reed, Jr. According to Century Strategies' website: "Ralph
Reed is founder and president of Century Strategies, a public relations and
public affairs firm with offices in Atlanta and Washington...As chairman of the
Georgia Republican Party in 2002, he helped elect U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss,
Sonny Perdue as the first GOP Governor in 130 years, and gained control of
state Senate for first time since Reconstruction... Reed has worked on seven
presidential campaigns and currently serves as Chairman of the Southeast Region
for the Bush-Cheney '04 and campaign manager in Georgia. He has advised 88
campaigns for U.S. Senate, Governor and Congress in 24 states. Reed has been
named one of the top ten political newsmakers in the nation by Newsweek, one of
the twenty most influential leaders of his generation by Life magazine, and one
of the 50 future leaders of America
by Time magazine. As executive director of the Christian Coalition (1989-1997),
he built one of nation's most effective grassroots organizations." [CentStrat.com, accessed 5/18/09]

Ralph
Reed Was "Spear Carrier For The Religious Right." As
reported by Time magazine: "Reed was the preternaturally boyish spear
carrier for the religious right, the brash Evangelical who transformed the
Christian Coalition into a populist power center, then helped usher Republicans
into control of Congress and George W. Bush into the presidency." [Time, 7/23/06]

Ralph
Reed Was Tied To Jack Abramoff. As
reported by Newsday: "A House investigative
committee in 2006 concluded that Reed interceded with the Bush White House to
help some of Abramoff's clients, and Reed said later he regretted the actions."
[Newsday, 8/14/08]

JCN
Counsel Wendy Long Has Big-Time Conservative Credentials

The Judicial Confirmation Network's
Counsel Is Wendy Long. According to the organization's website:
"Wendy Long is legal counsel to the Judicial Confirmation Network. Until March
2005, she was a litigation partner in the New York office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
Wendy was a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and to
Judge Ralph Winter of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York. She is a
graduate of Northwestern University School of Law, cum laude and Order of the
Coif, where she was articles editor of the Northwestern University Law Review,
and of Dartmouth College. She previously served as a
press secretary in the U.S. Senate, for former U.S. Senator Bill Armstrong
(R-Colo.) and former U.S. Senator Gordon Humphrey (R-N.H.)."
[JudicialNetwork.com, accessed 5/18/09]

Wendy
Long's Former Law Firm, Kirkland & Ellis, Is A Known Stomping Ground For
Prominent Conservatives. The Chicago Tribune reported: "John Bolton,
the outspoken former Bush administration official and UN ambassador, is joining
Chicago-based Kirkland & Ellis as a senior adviser...Bolton worked as a
senior arms-control policymaker in the State Department and became known for
his hawk-like views toward Iraq, Iran and North Korea and a belligerent [sic]
personal style. His nomination as United Nations ambassador in 2005 became a
highly charged affair... Kirkland &
Ellis has long been known as a comfortable environment for prominent
conservatives. It still employs former Whitewater independent counsel
Kenneth Starr, now the dean of the law school at Pepperdine. And many former and current legal luminaries in
the Bush administration worked there at some point in their careers. [Chicago Tribune, 3/10/08;
emphasis added]

Wendy Joined Mitt Romney's Presidential
Campaign To Help "Woo Social Conservatives." As
reported by The American Spectator, Mitt Romney was credited with a
political coup last Tuesday when it was announced that Wendy Long has joined
his campaign as a senior legal advisor and vice chair of his National Faith and
Values Steering Committee... Long
is an articulate spokesperson both to bolster Romney's conservative credentials
and to take aim at [Fred] Thompson, the opponent who clearly will pose a threat
to his efforts to woo social conservatives." [The American Spectator, 7/30/07]

The Judicial Confirmation
Network claims to be committed to a fair confirmation process. However, their
definition of "fair" seems to be whatever advances the agenda of the radical
right.